Following the publication of ‘TED Talks on The Workings of Human Body’ we received a request to features apps for human anatomy. We went ahead and curated this collection comprising some of the most popular apps in this category. The apps will particularly help students explore the human body through 3D graphics and interactive content. The list also includes some of the best anatomy reference apps out there.

There are plenty of reasons teachers do not use education technology. It’s expensive. It’s hard to always find a reason to implement edtech into a particular lesson. That’s all true and valid, really.

But what are the other big reasons that teachers don’t use technology in the classroom? We did a little digging through surveys, social media, blogs, reports, and the Daily Genius community to uncover the top 10 reasons that edtech is getting passed over. The results might (or might not) surprise you.

Digital Student Portfolios are becoming more important now than ever! Students are creating and remixing information like never before – and where is all that amazing work going? At my old school it was wiped off the devices at the end of the year – a heart-wrenching idea that I was personally against. This is why we need to publish student work in one place and let it serve as a home of student reflection, and a become a destination to unleash student pride and curiosity.

There are many reasons to begin the journey to digital portfolios – here are just a few.

EasyBib helps educators provide students with the tools they need to do credible and ethical research, while allowing them to track student progress and understanding before they hand in their final paper. EasyBib has also been recently integrated into Google Docs allowing students to easily and properly cite their resources with one single click.

John Parker is Digital Learning Specialist for Buncombe County Schools in North Carolina and wrote a post about how media centers are changing in their district. He included a video that gives you an overview of how the media centers are re-imagined.

John Parker, Digital Learning Specialist in Buncombe County Schools in North Carolina, wrote a post about how media centers are being re-designed as flexible learning spaces. Think makerspaces in one corner, legos in another, kids creating a movie with a green screen in a back corner. How fun!

These days, students can walk into a classroom and use their tablet or smartphone as the AR device to trigger to original content made on movie-making software and posted to YouTube, leading to an immediate and immersive learning experience.

"The idea here isn’t simply that educators can improve by connected through social networks–they already are doing that. Rather, that schools can decentralize the teacher training effort by cutting them loose and supporting their self-directed efforts through an array of resources. The purpose of this post, beyond clarifying some how social media-driven and self-directed teacher professional development might work, is to offer some (mostly) concrete ideas for actually getting started designing such a program in your school or district. We would love to hear any suggestions in the comments because, well, that’d be social of you."

"But in an increasingly connected and digital world, the things a student needs to know are indeed changing—fundamental human needs sometimes drastically redressed for an alien modern world. Just as salt allowed for the keeping of meats, the advent of antibiotics made deadly viruses and diseases simply inconvenient, and electricity completely altered when and where we slept and work and played, technology is again changing the kind of “stuff” a student needs to know."

"“Show What You Know With Media” is a book series and website created by Dr. Wesley Fryer to serve as a menu, handbook, andmap for teacher-leaders and learners in the twenty-first century who seek to develop digital literacies as multimedia communicators and help students “show what they know with media.” * Mapping Media to the Curriculum (Volume I) explores the first six products in the framework: Interactive Writing, Narrated Art, Radio Shows, 5 Photo Stories, Visual Notetaking, and Narrated Slideshows / Screencasts. Videos in each chapter (hosted on YouTube) are directly linked for compatible eReaders and also linked via QR codes, so readers can optionally use a smartphone to view them."

This creative-commons licensed site is chock-full of ideas for how kids can show off what they know by CREATING it! Very exciting. Plus, I like that they called it "media." Good idea. Put the media in our own hands!

When Rube Goldberg walked away from his engineering career in 1904, it’s unlikely he realized the impact that he would have on 21st century education. I find it ironic that many educators at the forefront of STEM education find inspiration from his cartoons, like The Simple Alarm Clock, that were published in newspapers across the United States over 100 years ago.

When I initially share the Engineering Design Process with my middle school students (see below), I like to have them collaboratively plan, construct and then use the iterative process to continuously refine a Rube Goldberg Machine.

Intel’s Innovation ToolBox is a hub of ideas, information, resources and success stories to help drive the next generation of inventors, creators and entrepreneurs in your classroom. Thanks to the efforts of innovative educators around Australia, as well as Intel Australia’s education team, this online ToolBox provides a range of resources that will help you to introduce coding, designing technologies and making in the classroom.

This site and community is dynamic. Join the Twitter conversation using #intelgalileo, collaborate with other innovative educators and, when you’re ready, share your own resources to help inspire others. The Intel Education team and innovation community look forward to connecting with you.

A higher-order thinker is a critical thinker. What are the attributes of a critical thinker? In The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools, Richard Paul and Linda Elder describe a well-cultivated critical thinker as someone who: raises vital questions and problems, formulating them clearly and precisely;gathers and assesses relevant information, using abstract ideas to interpret it effectively; comes to well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them against relevant criteria and standards;thinks open-mindedly within alternative systems of thought, recognizing and assessing their assumptions, implications and practical consequences as need be; andcommunicates effectively with others in figuring out solutions to complex problems.

"While more teachers are using digital games in the classroom, how they decide which games to use and why is less standardized, according to a teacher survey of 694 K-8 teachers by the Games and Learning Publishing Council called Level Up Learning: A National Survey on Teaching with Digital Games.

The report finds that teachers learn about games through informal means, such as peers within the school or school district, and could benefit from more explicit training programs. By not having a more formal process, the report finds that “teachers may not be getting exposure to the broader range of pedagogical strategies, resources, and types of games that can enhance and facilitate digital game integration.”

So a quick session on gamification (turning lessons into game-oriented learning experiences) would be helpful for moving forward, but so would a session on the skills that students can build through existing games.

"I read recently that content curation is dead. I have a few different arguments against this concept, but for now, I’ll keep it short and sweet: Content curation is not dead, and while the debate over curating content online vs creating new content will rage on and on, curating content for other reasons is still going strong.

That said, there are a lot of different ways to go about content curation, so we’ve test driven a few different tools so you can figure out which might work best for you whether you’re curating content for work projects, assigning it as a school project, for your own professional development, or personal interests."

I'm rescooping this for three reasons. First, the term "curation" is fairly new to me and it is nice to see how different forms it can take. Secondly, I read so many blogposts entitled "10 tools for this" or "35 reasons for that". It is nice too see one of those where all of the 6 tools are actually great. Third, the fact that I actually have experience with three of the six tools makes me feel good. So enjoy :)

With the recent announcement of Google Classroom, school districts and educators across the country that are currently integrating Google Apps for Education into their classrooms are awaiting the opportunity to gain access to Google’s workflow solution.

While there are currently a number of workflow solutions and approaches within Google Drive that classroom teachers can take that range from manual organization and file / folder sharingto advanced automation with tools such asDoctopus, Google Classroom provides a viable option that strikes a balance – blending tight integration with Google Drive, an intuitive interface and advanced features that experienced Google Drive users are looking for.

In an era where ignorance can mean legally-binding repercussions, understanding how to effectively use 21st century tools in the classroom is tantamount to effective classroom management or content area best practices.

"Saying that it has always been this way, doesn't count as a legitimate justification to why it should stay that way. Teachers and administrators all over the world are doing amazing things, but some of the things we are still doing, despite all the new solutions, research and ideas out there is, to put it mildly, incredible."

Sharing your scoops to your social media accounts is a must to distribute your curated content. Not only will it drive traffic and leads through your content, but it will help show your expertise with your followers.

Integrating your curated content to your website or blog will allow you to increase your website visitors’ engagement, boost SEO and acquire new visitors. By redirecting your social media traffic to your website, Scoop.it will also help you generate more qualified traffic and leads from your curation work.

Distributing your curated content through a newsletter is a great way to nurture and engage your email subscribers will developing your traffic and visibility.
Creating engaging newsletters with your curated content is really easy.